PALO ALTO – A man was robbed at gunpoint while his young relative looked on Friday night in Palo Alto, police said.
The victim, described as a man in his 30s, called the city’s 24-hour dispatch center at 6:31 p.m. to report that he had been robbed at gunpoint about 15 minutes earlier in the 900 block of Bryant Street, the Palo Alto Police Department said in a news release.
Police said an investigation revealed that the victim had just parked in the driveway of his home and had opened the rear door of his vehicle to get the child out when a two-door car with tinted windows pulled up nearby. A passenger exited, pointed a pistol at the victim and demanded his property.
The victim handed over his wristwatch and noted that the driver was also pointing a handgun at him, police said. The child remained in the victim’s vehicle and was not addressed by the suspects. No one was injured and the suspects left the scene in their car.
Detailed descriptions of the suspects were not available Friday.
Police also investigated a suspicious-circumstances case earlier in the evening that possibly involved the same suspects.
Just before 6 p.m., employees at Patagonia at 525 Alma Street noticed two men had been sitting in a black two-door Honda Accord in front of the business for an extended period of time, police said. When one of the men eventually opened the car door, he made eye contact with a uniformed security guard and remained in the Honda.
The car then drove away eastbound on University Avenue but not before the guard recorded the license plate. Police said the plate had been reported stolen in Oakland and did not belong on the Honda.
At 7:07 p.m., in-progress vehicle burglaries were reported at the Stanford Shopping Center. The vehicle in that case was also described as a black Honda with tinted windows.
When officers arrived, the suspects drove away and almost hit several pedestrians, police said. Officers pursued the vehicle but ended the chase on Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park because the suspects were driving recklessly.
Police said an investigation revealed that the suspect vehicle was a two-door Honda Civic with a license plate that had been reported stolen in San Francisco. In addition, no vehicle burglaries had actually occurred, but the suspects had been seen looking into the windows of parked cars.
“Police now believe this was a separate suspect vehicle and do not know if it was connected to either robbery or the suspicious circumstances case at Patagonia, but the investigation remains ongoing,” police said.
Anyone with information related to the cases can contact the police department at 650-329-2413. Those wishing to remain anonymous can call or text 650-383-8984 or email paloalto@tipnow.org.
Source: www.mercurynews.com